I didn't fall in love
by BitchPleaseIamaunicorn
Summary: I wandered slowly into it, and before I knew it, it was too late; I loved you too much to let you go. -Bruce Banner love story-
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Readers! Welcome to my new Story! The idea has been floating round my head for a while and now.. Here it is! Enjoy!**

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A few years down the line from the Battle of New York, Tony and Bruce are still close friends and co-workers. Tony is always looking for ways to help his friend be more social, and when the opportunity to mentor two students from NYU popped up, Tony jumped at the chance and decided it would be a good idea to help some young minds.

Somehow, they're going to find their way to be mentors at NYU.

Daniel Francis and Alexandra Callaghan are possibly the biggest know it all's about science that there are at NYU. They've both been best friends from the first attempted explosion of their fourth grade science class room right up until their college mega-genius courses.

After both passing the entry exam with flying colors, Dan and Alex move in together, and now have been chosen for a 6 month work experience mentorship program.

* * *

"We all deserve to die! We all deserve to die!... Because the lives of the wicked should be made brief for the rest of us death will be a relief, we all deserve to die." I sang out. Yep, I totally hit that note.

"Alex! What have I told you about singing Sweeney Todd in the morning?!" Dan shouted from the kitchen.

"Sweeny Todd is a powerful and emotional musical!" I said, defending my singing, walking out of my bedroom. God, having a friend be your roommate can be so annoying at times.

"And a musical about murder and cannibalism." He muttered, going back to the newspaper. I rolled my eyes, slumping down on a wooden chair opposite him.

"You excited for today?" I asked, smiling and trying to change the subject from murder. It's not the greatest topic to talk about over the breakfast table.

"Yeah, I am." Dan nodded. I smiled back at him before taking a sip of my tea.

"You have to be excited. I've never seen you make conversation before nine AM." He chuckled dryly. I poked my tongue out at him.

"It's gonna be awesome! Real scientists, in a real lab!" I said, shaking my head. This had been my dream, working in a lab, doing real science-y things.

"We're actually going to be working with Iron Man! Can you believe it?" Dan asked excitedly. I hoped to God that he wasn't going to fan-boy when we meet the men we were working with. "Did you do some research on that Banner guy?" He continued on a somewhat calmer level.

"Yep, Dr. Bruce Banner. He sounds pretty smart. He's done a lot of work on gamma radiation and the effects of said radiation on the body, but that's all I could really find." I shrugged. He sounded interesting, though. You know, trained as a doctor, but now an all round smarty-pants in science. But there's no record of him after about 2005, which is weird for someone with such qualifications.

"Right..." Dan said before eating his last crust. "You must be trying to make a good impression." He said, looking me over.

I raised my eyebrow. "What?" I asked a little self consciously. He had a tendency to do this; talking about random stuff and not explaining.

"You're wearing a dress." He pointed out. I chuckled. "You never wear dresses; you must really want this." He smirked.

"Oh, shut up." I wacked him on the side of the head with his newspaper. He feigned hurt and snatched his paper back with a sniff. I laughed.

"Come on, we'd better get going." I said, grabbing the car keys.

* * *

"Livin' easy, lovin' free, season ticket on a one way ride. Askin' nothin'. leave me be." .."I'm on the highway to hell! On the highway to hell! highway to hell I'm on the highway to hell!"

"Ugh." I groaned. Every morning. Every single morning. "Don't you think it's a little early for ACDC, Tony?" I asked, looking over to him. He was tinkering with a prototype arm, probably not even listening.

"It's never too early for ACDC!" he grinned, looking over at me. I don't understand how he can this happy in the morning. He didn't even go to bed until after three AM!

Jarvis piped up suddenly. "Sir, please remember that you do have a meeting with the NYU board today at nine."

I mentally groaned again. I know it's a good exercise for me to be more comfortable around other people. I want to do it. Really, it'll be fun. I just...don't trust Tony with young people. They're too impressionable. If Iron Man said 'blow that up,' they probably would.

"What time is it now, Jarvis?" Tony asked, his brow creased as he worked carefully on his invention.

"it's 8:45, sir." Jarvis replied.

"Thanks for the memo, Jarvis." Tony sighed, sitting back in his chair. I drank the rest of my tea and gently sat it down on the lab table.

"Come on, we'd better get going." I said. I grabbed my jacket from the coat hook. When I realized Tony wasn't scrambling to change into a suit at the last second, I looked at him. "You're really going in that?" I gestured to his attire. He was going to go to university board meeting in a ACDC T-shirt and jeans.

"I tend to get bored with suits after a while, Brucie." he said before gulping down the rest of his coffee.

"Right." I rolled my eyes, exiting the lab, Tony following.


	2. Chapter 2

We parked outside the main offices of the college. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.

"You ready?" Dan asked nervously, still gripping the steering wheel.

"Yeah, I guess." I exhaled and got out of the car, wiping down my dress that seemed too short, even though it came falling to my knees. I hate dresses.

"We'll be fine." Dan smiled and softly pushed me; I pushed him back harder. We both laughed and walked up what seemed thousands of steps to get to the reception. The building wasn't unfamiliar to us; it seemed we were always being called up here, though normally to get told off for damaging equipment in the lab.

We got to the office that it said to go to in the letters we were given. There was no window on the door, so I had no idea if someone was in there. The doors were old and thick, so there was no way of overhearing any conversations.

"Should we go in?" Dan whispered, gesturing to the door. I shrugged, my hands in a knot. I had always been terrible when it came to meetings and interviews; I babble and panic.

I jumped from my thoughts as Dan knocked on the door and opened the door, pulling me in with him.

* * *

"Would you stop worrying? It's called being fashionably late." Tony said, taking off his sunglasses. I chuckled at my friend.

"Isn't that for a party and not for a board meeting?" I pointed out, putting my jacket on and exiting the car.

"Pfft, wherever I am, it's a party!" Tony said smugly, shaking his head. We headed up the steps, which seemed to go on for a while. Students and people in suits bustled about, looking busy.

"Do you have any idea where you are going?" I ask him as he decides upon a random hallway.

"Yeah, it said where to go on the letter." He said, turning his head. That's another thing Tony did that annoyed me: not telling me things.

"Letter? I didn't get a letter." I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, I opened your copy for you." he said, patting my arm. I rolled my eyes and followed.

"Here, this is it." We came to a large wooden door at the end of the hallway.

After a moment of looking awkwardly at the door, then each other, I said "Well, go on then." I gestured to Tony to open the door. He quickly knocked on the door and entered. I followed behind him, clearing my throat.

It was a spacious office with a large desk at the back of it and a set of couches and a table in the center of the office. It seemed to be an informal meeting as the directors of the board were all sitting and talking on the large couches.

"Ah! Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, how nice to see you again!" Michael, the Dean, stood up and shook our hands.

"Sorry we're late, traffic." I said, awkwardly chuckling. He gestured to us to sit down. Opposite were the two other officials, another man and a woman.

"This is professor Diana Richards, Chemistry Professor, and this is professor Adrian Burnham, the Pathology Professor." The two teachers nodded and smiled.

Tony sat back on the couch, "So, where a the little squirts?" He asked, looking around the office, obviously bored. For such a smart man, he does have a small attention span.

Professor Richards sighed and looked at her watch. "They should be here soon." She said, smiling. Hm, so they're even later than us?

* * *

This is perfect, really, it is. In a building we've been in about a hundred times in the last month...and we're lost. Well, we are not lost, we just don't know where to go.

"So, you said the meeting was in room 26?" I asked, standing in an empty office. Dan shrugged and looked at the floor

"I dunno...it was early this morning." He said sheepishly.

I sighed. This was great; I've got an idiot for my best friend and I am late for possibly one of the biggest meetings of my life.

"Just think. What did it say on the letter?" I said, rubbing my temples with annoyance. This couldn't be happening.

"Right. So, this is office 26, right?" he asked, I nodded. "Maybe it's 16! I remember a 6. There are only 33 offices here, so it's either 16 or 6." He shrugged, walking out of the office.

"Okay, lead the way, Sherlock." I said, still not happy.

We got to Office 16, about 15 minutes late. I breathed out "I just hope this one is right," turning to Dan.

"One way to find out." He said before knocking on the door and opening it.

I waited to see his reaction before following him. "Oh, we are sorry for being late." He chuckled. "Just a slight mix-up." He chuckled again, nervously.

"We?" I heard someone ask from inside.

"Oh" Dan pulled me to his side. I smiled at the group self-consciously. Professor Richards, Professor Burnham and Dean Michael...Then there's the two men; our mentors, I guess.

I had seen Tony Stark on the news before. After all that happened with his Iron Man suit, most people know who he is. Beside him sits a slightly bigger man wearing thin glasses with dark hair. It must be Dr. Banner.

"Hi." I said quietly, waving my hand. I already felt stupid.

"Please, come in." Mr. Richards said, gesturing to us. We walked in, standing awkwardly. I looked over to Professor Richards (who, in turn, scowled at us, probably mad because we were late.).

"Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, I'd like you to meet your trainees: Alexandra Callaghan and Daniel Francis." They stood up to shake our hands.

I shook Tony's hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Stark" I said politely.

"Oh, please," He rolled his eyes. "Call me Tony"

I nodded. "Tony." I shook Dr. Banner hand. Wow, they are kinda big. "Nice to meet you, Doctor." I smiled. He did the same as Tony, saying it was fine to call him Bruce. Dan shook Tony's hand and he looked so pale I thought he would faint.

"I'm a really big fan of your work, Mr. Stark." He gushed like a teenage girl.

"Huh, thanks Daniel. " Tony answered, probably a little freaked out by his forwardness.

We sat down next to Professor Richards who scowled at me and glanced at her watch. I shrugged and turned to face the others. The meeting was brief, for what we had been through to get here. The Dean just explained what would be happening and how long the mentorship would last. He explained what Dan and I were studying. He didn't ask us many questions; he tended to babble on about us and the work we had done, like he was trying to sell us off. I kinda felt like a child listening on an adults conversation. Tony explained where we would be working; I assumed he had his own lab anyway. Bruce piped up to say what we'd be looking at for some of the lessons and most were things I have never heard of. As the meeting drew out, Professor Richards looked at her watch.

"I'm very sorry," Professor Richards said, looking back from her watch. "But we have a lecture to get to; it's one of Alexandra's and Daniel's last, so it's quite important." Oh crap, I forgot I had my last lesson with her. She's going to be angry with us. Don't get me wrong, I love Professor Richards, but she can be so uptight about things sometimes...

"Yes, of course, don't let us keep you." Bruce said, his lips lifting into a small smile. As he was looking at me and Dan, I noticed that he had pretty eyes too. We said our goodbyes, shaking hands again. We exited, leaving the Dean and Professor Burnham talking to Bruce and Tony.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" she whispered angrily, shutting the door. Dan and I looked at each other.

"It was an accident." Dan shrugged "We got lost." he said innocently.

"You were here yesterday!" she snapped.

"It's not a big deal. It's over now, anyway" I said calmly, trying to be rational.

"Yes, it is a big deal. This is a big thing not only for you, but for the science department and the university. If you mess this up, it will be on your heads!" she warned before storming off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi Guys! sorry about the wee wait for a new chapter, busy busy busy! Also happy Thanksgiving guys! Or happy Black Friday! Americans and their weird holidays, right? Enjoy the chapter!**

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The students seemed nice. They were rather quiet, but then again I was being quiet myself, so I can't blame them. We carried on talking to the two men for 10 minutes. The meeting had gone good, I guess, except for the students getting scolded afterwards. Yeah, maybe the professor could have been a little quieter... I did feel bad for them. The dean seemed to gush over the students like he was trying to persuade us to buy them or something. Even I had started to get bored, so I had no idea how Tony hadn't started fidgeting yet. As the conversation slowed, Tony clapped his hands and stood up.

"Well, gentlemen, it was lovely meeting you; we'd love to stay and chat but busy, busy, busy!" he rushed. I stood up, nodding.

"So much work." I added helpfully.

"Tons." Tony agreed.

The dean chuckled. "We wouldn't want to keep you!" I shook his hand. "I'm sure you'll find the students very helpful." he said, smiling. Again with the students! Jeez.

We said our goodbyes and exited. I sighed and Tony groaned.

"Oh my God, I nearly killed myself." he whispered as we made our way down the corridor.

"I think the dean has a crush on those kids." I chuckled.

"I think that Daniel has a crush on me!" he said dramatically. Yeah, he was little excited, but anyone would be meeting 'The Iron Man.'

"Oh, get over yourself." I said, rolling my eyes at him. We came to the reception area. It seemed less busy; no one seemed to be around except for two students.

* * *

"Stay here." Professor Richards said, pointing to the spot we were standing on in the main lobby. "I'll be back in five minutes. I need some papers from Burnham. Try not to get lost." she said sarcastically before walking off briskly.

We watched her walk up the stairs to her office and disappear before Daniel busted out laughing.

"Daniel!" I scolded, smacking his arm. "This isn't funny!" He carried on laughing despite my halfhearted scolding.

"You've got to say," he choked out, calming himself. "Her angry face is so funny." I smirked at the remark; yeah, it was little funny.

"Still, she could've heard you." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Did ya get lost again?" We spun around to see Bruce and Tony walking towards us.

"Oh, Tony, Bruce! We didn't get lost." I said, shaking my head. I tried to think of a smart answer, but I panicked. "Well-uh we did, it's just..." I sighed. Great first impression, Alex.

"I promise we are actually smart." Daniel said,fighting off a smirk. Tony and Bruce laughed.

"Sorry about getting you in trouble." Bruce said sincerely as his smiled faded. Dan and I looked at each other.

"Trouble?" I asked, confused.

"We heard you getting scolded. I quote:" Tony said before making quotation marks with his fingers. "'It will be on your heads!'" he said, smirking.

Dan and I chuckled. "Nah, she's always like that." I dismissed.

"She was just a little stressed out. We'll leave her to calm down; she's been angrier." Dan shrugged. I looked at him, pleading with my eyes not to say what she had been angry about. He continued anyway. "Like the time when nearly blew up the-"

"Aha! funny! Well, we better get going, busy busy busy!" I rushed, covering Dan's mouth. I could feel a blush creep up my neck.

We quickly said goodbyes and went searching for where she had stomped off to.

* * *

We stood there, watching them quickly shuffle off. As soon as they were gone, Tony burst out laughing.

"I like 'em" he said, smiling. I smiled back. They did seem like nice people, though little nervous... well, Alex more so than Dan.

"Yeah, I can see why they were picked." I agreed, nodding. We made our way out of the building.

"I do actually want to know what they blew up, though." Tony continued wonderingly, putting his sunglasses back on.

"Nearly." I corrected him, smirking. Tony chuckled as he opened the car door and sat down.

"You know, they do remind me of us." he said, though he seemed to be thinking out loud.

"One of us is a girl?"

"Well, you are quite feminine, but that's not what I meant. They seem close...I read on their file they live together." I rolled my eyes at Tony's remark before he continued. "They're like science bros... but one of them is a girl, so..." He scratched his chin. "Science Buddies!" He smiled.

"We could be a science foursome!" he announced after a silent drive back to Stark tower.

"Yeah, foursome is not a word you want to use while talking about college students, Tony." I chuckled as it caught up with him what he'd just said. Giggling in an admittedly immature way, we went into Stark Tower.

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See y'all soon!**

**Uni x**


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